Fire Elf
by Breeze xxx
Summary: Remember little Fire Elf from Inkdeath? This one-shot is her and Beppe meeting up again years after the trilogy. And she's in love...bad summary, find out more if you read it! xxx


**This is basically a one-shot on Fire Elf, the little girl with the fiery hair we met in Inkdeath. It's set when she is thirteen, after the trilogy. I hope you enjoy it, don't forget to review and tell me what you think!**

Conny sat alone in the woods with the little blue fairies fluttering on her lap, the sunlight filtering through the huge trees and dancing on her bright hair. Her hands were twisting nervously and her feet were bare and wriggling into the soft soil. She gently blew on the fairies as a girl named Meggie had told her so many years ago, as the men built a way up to the tall tree houses and the children were left below. The fairies flew off into the trees. I am the same age that Meggie was then, thought Conny with a bemused smile. Since that time the Bluejay overthrew the Adderhead, Conny had gone home to her mother and lived in peace and joy with Her Kindliness, Violante, as ruler. Everything was alright again...but somehow not.

Since that time Conny had seen the world differently. The mountains in the distance seemed to be made of parchment, and everyone and everything around her suddenly looked like moving, breathing inky paintings. It was as if the world, to Conny, was a _book._

But none of that mattered right now. Conny was about to see Beppe.

She had not seen him since she moved back to live with her mother so many years ago. She could barely remember his face, but she knew how she felt when she used to look at him- he was more than a friend. Her heart beat faster when he was there. She was so anxious to see him now that her hands, twisting furiously, were hurting really badly and her heart was thudding out of her chest. Conny's head snapped up when she heard the crack of a twig, and she looked from left to right. Was it a Night Mare? Or worse?

'Well, would you look who we have here. It's little Fire Elf!' called a male voice from up in the very same tree Conny was sitting at the roots of.

She jumped up and scrambled up the tree, tearing her green dress in the process. But Conny didn't care- Beppe was here!

As she climbed, her hand was grabbed and she was pulled up to sit on a branch. And Beppe was there, his eyes blue and full of humour, his blonde curly hair making Conny want to run her hands through it. He was tall and muscly now, and Conny's heart did not fail to tell her that he was really handsome too.

'Your hair is as red as Dustfinger's fire, just as it always was,' Beppe said, taking a red lock and twisting it around his finger before letting it fall.

Conny realised she was staring. She blushed and looked away.

'Fire Elf?' Beppe said. Fire Elf? Conny hadn't been called that in a long, long time. She wasn't even called that by the Strolling Players anymore. But it sounded so good coming out of Beppe's mouth.

'Yes, I'm awake,' said Conny. Did that even make any sense? Her mind had gotten all mixed-up.

Beppe laughed. 'I missed you,' he said quietly. Something inside Conny cracked.

'We haven't seen each other since I was, like, four! How can you have missed me? You never even visited!' Conny didn't know why these words were flying out of her mouth. She felt betrayed and annoyed at Beppe, and now she had expressed these feelings it was hard to stop. 'I waited for you! I thought about nothing but you for months, and still you never came! I loved you, Beppe!' Conny clapped a hand over her mouth, but there was no way to stop the tears running down her face.

'Loved?' whispered Beppe, putting his arm around her. 'I'm so sorry, Fire Elf.'

'Don't call me that!' snapped Conny and she slid down the tree trunk, feeling so sorry for herself she ran off, desperately sobbing.

'Wait! WAIT!' Beppe was faster than she was and he caught up with Conny, catching her hand and spinning her around to face him. He had such sorrow in his eyes that she, unknown to herself, forgave him. But she avoided his eyes.

'I love you,' Beppe said, loud enough for the whole forest to hear. He pulled her into a hug, his heart thudding against hers. She whispered the same to him, over and over. And when she pulled away he kissed her on the cheek, and she felt as if there was an inky mark on it, burning. She looked into his eyes once more and suddenly felt different.

The world...it was back to normal. Everything looked real, and not as if it had been drawn by a giant illuminator's hand.

Fire Elf was back. She was in love, and had eyes that looked upon the world as everyone else's did. She broke away from Beppe and smiled tearily.

Everything was perfect.


End file.
